Synopsys

Two kids are playing in the garden, Bruce and Rachel. While running to hide from his friend Bruce falls into a sealed up well. His fall disturbs dozens of bats that fly out agitated.

Adult now, Bruce wakes up from the nightmare. He’s inside a Chinese prison where he’s often attacked by other inmate having to fight 6 to 1 until he’s locked away in solitary confinement in order to assure the others’ safety. There he is visited by Henry Ducard, a man who seems to know a lot about him and also have a lot of influence with the local authorities. He invites Bruce to join the League of Shadows, an opportunity for him to fight criminals without having to lock himself in a prison to find them. Thanks to the strings Ducard pulls, Bruce is released the very next morning. His first task is to pick a rare blue flower from a mountain and bring it to the top.

In spite of the cold and exhaustion Bruce carries on with the task and delivers the flower to the given location. He realizes it’s the headquarters of the League of Shadows led by Ra’s al Ghul. He is reunited with Ducard who attacks him right away. One has to be always prepared in this business. Bruce collapses eventually.

More nightmares. Young Bruce is saved from the well by his father, Dr. Thomas Wayne, with Alfred’s assistance, the butler. The boy was terrified by the bats and still has nightmares because of it. His father comforts him and also shows him a pearl necklace, which is meant to be a present for his mother.

The same night the family takes the Wayne monorail to go the theatre. Wayne Enterprises is huge, his father practically owns the city. As they watch the opera Mefistofele the boy is scared by the bats again and requests to leave early. Outside the theatre they are robbed by a homeless man with a gun who has his eyes set on the pearl necklace and during the struggle that occurs both of his parents are killed.

At the police station officer Jim Gordon tells the boy that the attacker was caught. After his parents’ death Bruce is placed in Alfred’s care, and Wayne Enterprise is set to be run by CEO William Earle until he grows up. Bruce tells Alfred that he believes it was his fault.

Under Ducard’s supervision Bruce learns more efficient fight techniques, ninjitsu, stealth, combat theatricality and deception, and he trains along with the League of Shadow. Soon he’s able to fight not only 6 men but 600. He still waits for his vengeance.

When his parents’ had been offered a parole hearing Bruce had returned from Princeton University to an empty house run by Alfred. Rachel Dawes, his old childhood friend, drove him to attend the hearing. His plan was to shoot the man if he got paroled, he’d even brought a gun. A deal was made, parole in exchange of testifying against local crime boss Carmine Falcone. The only thing that prevented Bruce from becoming a murderer at his turn was the fact that Falcone had sent his own man to off the threat. Bruce witnessed it all, but later told Rachel what he’d planned to do. She slapped him and told him his father would have been ashamed of him.

Still looking for revenge Bruce went to Falcone who controlled the police and legal system. Falcone threatened him mentioning Alfred and Rachel and put him men to beat up the young men and throw him out. He got rid of the gun, gave his coat to a homeless man and left the country.

Later he had to steal food in China. When arrested he was stealing with a gang good belonging to Wayne Enterprise.

With the training getting to an advanced stage Bruce has to fight Ducard. Drugged up with the vapors obtained from the blue flower, which induces him bat hallucinations, he still manages to defeat him.

This victory brings him to the attention of Ra’s al Ghul. He is finally able to become a member of the League of Shadow, but first he has to pass one last test. He has to execute a murdered. Bruce refuses, and when he finds out that their plan for him was to send him lead the League of Shadows to Gotham City, which has fallen to corruption, and destroy it he realizes they don’t share the same belief and he has to stop them. He fights the members of the League, sets the building on fire, and while the roof collapses over Ra’s al Ghul killing him Bruce saves Ducard and leaves him in the nearby village to be treated.

Bruce calls Alfred who comes to pick him up with the company jet. In his absence Bruce has been declared dead by Earle and the company had been sold on the public market. Good thing Bruce had left all his assets to Alfred.

In Gotham a serial killer is transferred from prison to Arkham Asylum based on Dr. Jonathan Crane’s testimony. Rachel, an attorney now protests that it’s just another one of Falcone’s men kept out of jail. Crane meets up with Falcone and requests Rachel to be silented for good.

At the Wayne Manor Bruce sees a bat flying around the ceiling in one of the rooms. It reminds him of that distant incident in his childhood and he goes to climb down into the abandoned well only to discover underground an enormous cave filled with bats. From now on this is going to be his operational base.

His first public appearance is made at Wayne Enterprises right in the middle of a council meeting. He’s not there to take over the company which he can’t stop from going public anyway, he only asks for a job in Applied Science department. His new boss is going to be Lucius Fox. The department is as if dead but while being shown around he gets to be introduced to various fighting and defense equipment that being too expensive for the army was never put on production. Bruce asks to borrow some things for spelunking and Fox replies that everything belongs to him anyway.

At home the exploration of the cave continues at the lower foundations of the south east wing of the manor where there’s an elevator allowing access to the house. The borrowed fighting suit also receives attention being adjusted and painted black in the process.

His first nightly escapade wearing the high tech gear takes him into Sgt. Jim Gordon’s office, who he reckons is not a corrupt cop. Bruce wants to know how could Falcone be apprehended. The answer is surpassing a corrupt Judge and a DA willing to prosecute the case. Gordon is told to wait for his case before Bruce jumps off the roof.

The bad fall makes him think he needs some sort of parachute in the future. Fox can help him with that too, though he’s rather not hear the purpose for it than being told lies. With this occasion Bruce gets to see and try the Tumbler, an advanced version of tank, and enthusiastically he asks “Does it come in black?”

His costume is nearly ready and he chose bats as signature because they frighten him and he wants to bring that fear to his enemies.

A cargo of drugs hidden in bears and rabbits toys arrives to Gotham under Falcone and a police officer’s supervision. One by one the thugs disappear into the night. The officer leaves and Bruce, impersonating The Batman, deals with those who are left.

When Gordon arrives he finds the drugs and Falcone tied to a searchlight in such way that it projects the shadow of a bat in the sky.

Inside the metro Rachel is followed by some thugs. She is ready to defend herself using an electroshock gun but the thug runs off seeing Batman taking down the other one. He gives her compromising photographs to use against the Judge. They both rattle cages. As a result Falcone is put on trail.

At 3:00 PM Bruce is dragged out of bed by Alfred. In spite of the injuries and night activities he needs to live a normal public life in order not to raise suspicions.

Earle finds out that a Wayne Enterprise weapon that vaporizes water supplies has been stolen.

Bruce starts living a playboy life. He nearly gets kicked out of a hotel because his two female companions are bathing in the decorative fountains. He writes a check and buys the hotel. On his way out he runs into Rachel for the first time after he returned. He tries to tell her that he is more than what she sees but she tells him that what he does defines him.

In prison Falcone cuts his wrists to support his insanity plea so he can be moved to Arkham Asylum. Dr. Crane is brought to examine him and when Falcone threatens to divulge aspects about the drug operation if he isn’t transferred Crane puts on a sack mask and subjects Falcone to a gas that induces hallucinations. Upon his leaving the diagnosis is correct and the mafia boss is insane.

Batman informs Gordon that only half the drugs was meant for the dealers. They agree to interrogate the officer seen at the dock. Batman abducts him from the street hanging him by the leg. Threatened with a deep fall the man confesses that the rabbits had to go to Narrows, a poor neighborhood, because there was something else hidden in the drugs. That night Rachel’s boss is murdered for looking in one of Falcone’s crates.

In Narrows Crane and two thugs are preparing to set on fire the apartment where the rabbit toys stuffed with drugs are. Batman stops them but Crane uses his gas on him. Haunted by hallucinations of bats and his parents’ death and with suits covered in flames Batman jumps out the window into the rain outside. He barely has some strength left to call for Alfred to come and pick him up.

Bruce wakes up after two whole days of being unconscious. It’s his birthday. Alfred has called Fox to help cure him and Lucius has produced antidote. Bruce asks if he can make more of it.

Rachel arrives to bring Bruce a birthday present. She can’t make it to the party because she had to look for her boss’ body in the river. She gets a message telling her that Falcone is moved to the asylum and rushes off. Bruce changes into the Batman costume and leaves too although the guests are supposed to arrive soon.

At Arkham Rachel still questions Crane’s decision though Falcone is really insane. She wants him to be seen by another specialist. Crane leads her to another floor where the toxin is poured into the water system. He gases Rachel with a concentrate dose. The lights go off. Suspecting it’s Batman’s doing Crane tells the guard to call the police.

Batman barges into the basement, takes down the thugs and gives Crane his own medicine who says he’s working for Ra’s al Ghul. Batman takes Rachel away wanting to get her out. The police arrives and Gordon impatiently walks in by himself. Batman gives Rachel to him to get her out while the SWAT team enters the building. In a swarm of bats he gets into the prisoners’ area following another way out to meet with Gordon outside. He puts Rachel in the Tumbler and speeds home chased by police cars and helicopters. One of the three vials with the antidote made by Fox is used to save Rachel.

Gordon is informed that the entire water system is contaminated. Still the toxin has to be inhaled through lungs to have the expected effect.

Inside the cave Rachel wakes up. Bruce tells her he is going to sedate her but when she wakes up she has to take the two remaining vials to Gordon, one for him to take and one for mass production.

Bruce goes into the house to change and asks Alfred to take Rachel home, then he joins the party. Earle tells him that going on the stock market was a success. While talking to Fox this one tells him that water is not a good enough agent to release the toxin. The stolen device made by Wayne Enterprise could vaporize the water in order to do that. He has been fired for asking too many questions about it. Bruce sends him back to make more antidote.

One of the female guests pulls Bruce away to meet a name Ra’s al Ghul. But he is already dead, Bruce has seen him die. Ducard is there instead. He’s there to put his plan into practice, destroy Gotham. His men are all over the place and Bruce realizes he needs to evacuate the house in order to protect the guests. He pretends to be drunk and asks them to leave insulting them to get them out faster.

Once the two of them are alone Ducard tells him the toxin is obtained from the blue flower pick in China. Gotham must be destroyed because the corruption level has sky rocketed.

In town members of the League of Shadows are releasing people from Arkham.

Bruce is made one last offer to join the League but Gotham is not beyond saving so he refuses. At Ducard’s order the League is starting to set the house on fire. Ducard attacks Bruce and pushes him under a falling beam which traps him unconscious to the floor.

Panic sets in Narrows where wave after wave of criminals are freed from the asylum. Rachel wakes up at her home and remembers about the vials.

Alfred returns to the manor and help Bruce free himself from underneath the burning beam. They go to the cave. Behind them the house collapses.

Police forces are heading over the bridge to Narrows. Rachel gets through the barricade and delivers the antidote to Gordon. She needs to get back on main land before the island is isolated.

Ducard, his men and the microwave emitter make it to Narrows. They put the machine in the train from the suspended Wayne line planning to carry it all through the city and turn it on. The vapors blow the pipes open releasing the toxin. Madness sets in.

Gordon asks for more reinforcements but there is no one left to send, all the police forces are already there. The Tumbler jumps over the gap separating it from the city and enters the Narrows. Batman sets him up to date and gives him the Tumbler to go ahead and help.

Rachel is nearly run down by the Scarecrow riding a horse. She uses her electroshock gun on him but she’s soon surrounded by several inmates from the asylum. Batman jumps in the middle of them, picks her up and takes her to safety on a rooftop. She asks him who he is and he repeats her words saying that it doesn’t matter who he is underneath but what he does. She recognizes him.

As the emitter is secured in place Batman lands on the same train. Four League members attack him and they all end up fighting in the street. He takes them down but he is surrounded by terrified people. When the train starts with Ducard in control he manages to throw a chord and attach it to it. The train leaves dragging him after it. Gordon is following closely heading to the Wayne Tower.

Batman pulls himself on the train. He fights with Ducard and uses his sword to stab it through the breaking controls, he doesn’t plan on stopping it. At Wayne Tower Gordon fires the Tumbler’s missiles at the train rail foundation. With the line broken and feeling no obligation to save Ducard Batman jumps off the train, which falls into the street. Because of the impact the emitter explodes.

Earle is fired and Fox is put in his place.

In his car Bruce is amused that Batman made it on the newspapers’ front page while the drunken billionaire burning down his home only made it on page 8. When Earle calls to ask for explanations he tells him he bought the company.

Rachel finds Bruce in the garden sealing the well. Apologies are exchanged. She kisses him. Unfortunately the boy she loved never returned. Maybe one day when Batman is no longer needed he will. Still, his father would be proud of him.

They walk through the rubble of the manor. It’s time to rebuild the place the way it was. Alfred wonders if it wouldn’t be a good time to improve the foundation in the South-East corner, where the cave it. Bruce agrees.

At night Batman meets with Gordon who’s been promoted to lieutenant. He made a similar signal to the one with Falcone. There’s a new criminal in town, the calling card left behind is a Joker playing card. Batman doesn’t make any promise but he’ll look into it.